Why Netflix Paid $100 Million To Keep ‘Friends’ and Why It Was Worth It

The streaming landscape is set to change in 2019 and 2020. Disney has announced its plans for launching Disney+ sometime in the next 24 months. Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon are all spending billions of dollars (collectively and individually). Shows being produced for network television are now finding their homes on stream platforms for reruns, and the rights fees are starting to get crazy.

Earlier this year, Netflix announced that the hit tv series, Friends, will be sticking around on Netflix for 2019. It was later reported that the streaming service paid $100 Million to keep the cult classic on their platform.

Why Did Netflix Pay $100 Million For Friends?

The answer is simply complicated. Friendsis the top streamed and binged watch show on streaming platforms, according to Variety. According to a survey of 12M users, Friends was the most binged watch series on streaming. That’s huge for Netflix.

I know many people in circles I hang out with and follow that were complaining that Netflix was wasting $100M on an old show and could use that money for newer shows. Yes – that’s 100% true. Netflix could have used that money for a few new shows that may not be around for enough seasons to make the show worth producing.

Netflix is basically paying to have a high binge show in their offerings.

Is It Worth Paying For?

Some would say no, it was not worth paying for it. Others would argue that it is 100% worth paying for. I, personally, fall into the latter camp. I think that it is 100% Netflix’s responsibility to their customers and their shareholders to keep Friends on their offers.

Netflix is more than a content provider for new shows to be created. It is a streaming service that needs high engagement as well as the ability to retain paid customers to their service. $100M is a small drop in the bucket of what Netflix could pay for a new series. However, Netflix is lowering their risk of failure by using that money to retain the rights to a popular show like Friends than trying to create a new show.

Now, if Netflix wanted to try to get Friends to do a reunion season and $100M could go toward that…then I’d be all for it!

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